Ship with hazardous cargo holed in Channel

LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) British and French rescue services today were trying to reach 26 sailors forced to abandon a container ship carrying hazardous cargo after it began taking on water in stormy seas in the Channel.

The British-flagged MSC Napoli was on the French side of the Channel when it became holed on the starboard side, a coastguard spokeswoman said.

''The 26 crew have abandoned the vessel and are now in a lifeboat. The Napoli is damaged and has lost power but it is still afloat,'' she said.

The managers of the container ship, London-based Zodiac Maritime Agencies, said the Napoli was carrying hazardous cargo.

But Mark Rawson, safety manager at Zodiac, said they were not immediately able to say what the hazardous cargo was because the manifest was 100-pages long.

In the maritime sector there are 9 categories of hazardous materials from fertilizer through to chemicals and explosives.

''But there are no explosives on board,'' he told Reuters.

French and British helicopters and tugs were en route to the scene 50 miles (80 km) southeast of southwestern England's Cornwall coast where storm force waves have whipped up 9-metre (27-foot) waves.

''It's very bad weather out there at the moment which is obviously going to make things difficult,'' the coastguard spokeswoman said.

Winds of up to 100 mph (160 kph) battered much of Britain on Thursday, causing transport havoc and damaging buildings.

One driver was killed by an uprooted tree, more than 100 European and domestic flights at London's Heathrow airport were cancelled and 25,000 homes across southern England were without electricity after gales brought down power lines.

REUTERS SHB RAI2040